Our Stories

LOS ANGELES, November 4, 2010 - The parties today announced the settlement of a landmark class action lawsuit filed against Los Angeles County agencies alleging the failure to provide a constitutionally adequate education to youth detained at Camp Challenger, the County's largest juvenile detention facility.

Under the settlement agreement announced today, the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) and the Los Angeles Probation Department (Probation) will work extensively with a team of nationally renowned experts to implement systemic program reforms at Challenger and Christa McAuliffe High School in order to provide the required education and special education to the hundreds of youth who are detained there. The reform will cover at least 13 major areas, including literacy, instruction, transition, special education, and aftercare. The reforms will also focus on leadership at Challenger and sustainability, in order to ensure that the changes implemented as part of the settlement are permanent. The experts who will work hand-in-hand with the Challenger team under this agreement are some of the nation's leaders in the development of educational and rehabilitative programs for youth in juvenile detention settings. Click here to read full story.